Just A Little Crack
by AmethystUnarmed
Summary: A parallel with The Avengers. Various one-shots, feel free to request. Starts with Pegasus breaking into the KaibaCorp main office. He is surprised by who awaits him. And more of the story is revealed as the battle rages on.
1. Threat

Pegasus walked through the office without a care. His plan was already in motion. In mere minutes, the Duel Monsters would begin invading Domino and then Japan and so on and so forth (it was all very dull really) until they controlled everything. Zorc would have what he wanted, and would reward Pegasus thusly. And he could not wait.

It seemed fitting to end it here. The grand skyscraper that housed KaibaCorp was a striking image, representing both progress and the group of "heroes" he had come to despise. He barely held back a laugh. Heroes. "More like a barely functioning group of riffraff," he scoffed, "and not one of them has a lick of fashion sense. Why, I-" Pegasus would have gone on, but was rather shocked when he opened a door to find none other than Ryou Bakura sitting in Kaiba's large office chair. He looked up with a bright smile.

"Oh, hello!" A light, lilting voice met his ear. Pegasus chuckled at the sight, then smirked. He leaned against the doorway.

"Oh, please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." Ryou smiled sheepishly.

"Actually, the others sent me here to threaten you." The older man snorted. That had to be the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. He'd seen kittens more intimidating than Ryou. "Tea?" the boy asked, gesturing to the full-blown tea set that adorned the oversized desk. Pegasus raised an eyebrow.

"Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, I told you. I'm _threatening_!" he insisted, "No tea? Are you certain? I am going to have some," he chirped. Pegasus rolled his eyes. Why was he so _happy_?

"The Duel Monsters are coming. Nothing can change that. What do I have to fear?"

"The Avengers," Ryou answered, not looking up from his tea. Pegasus crossed his arms.

"What was that, Ryou-boy?"

"It's what we call ourselves. Sort of like a team, I suppose. You know, 'Earth's Mightiest Duelists' sort of thing." Pegasus laughed.

"Oh, yes. I've met them." Ryou spooned some sugar into his cup then began stirring.

"Then you know what you're up against. Let's do a headcount. The King of Games, a reincarnated Pharaoh, a teenage CEO and his brilliant little brother, a sadistic thief, a couple of tomb keepers who are all too familiar with torture, a dancer who is definitely flexible enough to kick you in the face, a former gang members, and a dice master. And you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"Really? I'm to be intimidated by a _dice master_?"

"Clearly you've never been hit by one of the dice before," Ryou muttered into his tea. Then he spoke up.

"When they come-oh, and they'll come-They'll be coming for you."

"I have an army straight out of the Shadow Realm, Ryou-boy." Pegasus was done with this foolishness. He stared the teen down. Ryou met his glare with level eyes. He did not back away.

"We have Yami Marik," was his calm retort. Pegasus snickered.

"Oh really? I thought the dear beast wandered off?" Ryou stared into him. Not at him, _into._ Gone was any form of hospitality, any form of merriment. The brown eyes, usually so wide and innocent, were dark.

"You're missing the point. There is no version of this where you come out on top." He stood, fire in his eyes. Some part of Pegasus, a part he would swear never existed, quivered.

" _Maybe_ your army comes," Ryou admitted, "and _maybe_ it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it." His face was now inches from Pegasus's own, chin out in defiance. Suddenly, a grand idea struck him. With a volatile smile, he gripped Ryou's cheeks with one hand, and lifted his curtain of hair with the other. The Millennium Eye was in full view now, and Pegasus refused to let the youth look away.

"How will your friends have anytime for me," he cooed with a mock pout, "when they're so busy fighting you?" The Eye flashed. Ryou gasped as his face illuminated with gold. His head drooped, bangs covering his eyes. Pegasus stepped back and cackled. "Poor, poor Ryou-boy."

A gold light flashed beneath Ryou's shirt. Wind ripped around the boy, tousling his hair. It was now spiked in ridiculous proportions. The wind seemed to stretch him as well. He was now a good few inches taller. Sharp, red-brown eyes looked up and locked on Pegasus.

"Oh Pegasus," a deep voice asked with a malicious chuckle, "Did you really think I would leave my hikari unattended?"


	2. Conviction

Well. I still don't know what I'm doing with my life. I'm behind on both my fanfics and school work and then this thing happened! *sigh* I just ask for trouble, don't I?

However, this fic got a lot of positive responses. However, you can thank empressofthelight on AO3 and CuteNinja25 on FFN for this next one shot update. The two of them recently gave me a lot of positive feedback on this piece and therefore gave me inspiration for this next bit. Not to mention my beautiful FFN partner in crime, Akayuki Novak, for helping me talking through a lot of this when "Just A Little Crack" first was written. In fact, she's the one who came up with the title.

So, enjoy!

(I hope.)

(You'll see what I mean.)

* * *

There was a crash. Glass shattered, raining down on the streets below KaibaCorp. Passersby screamed as a red figure fell from the penthouse floor. They screamed even louder when a silver, animated dragon appeared out of nowhere, saving the man.

For this reason, the street was empty when Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon landed. _Pity,_ Pegasus thought with a sigh, _My dragon could have used a snack._ He was preparing to take off, return to the top floor and finish Bakura, when a blast of shadow magic knocked him off his monster.

"And there was one other person you pissed off!" Bakura yelled as he stepped out from the shadows. _Except, that wasn't exactly true_ , Pegasus noted. There were two voices coming from the boy in front of him. Eyes, both innocent and sharp, glared at him. Bakura and Ryou were both shouting at him now, melding together in a way Pegasus had only seen once before.

* * *

Ryou ran towards the detention center. If the helicarrier was losing power, if they were truly under attack… His feet pounded harder into the metal floor, pushing him forward. He whipped the door open, just in time to see Pegasus stepping out of the open cell. Instantly, the white-haired boy's appearance changed.

"No!" Bakura snarled, and lunged forward. Pegasus crouched and placed his hands in a ready position. Only, Bakura flew straight through him and clattered to the cell floor. "What the f-"

The mirage Pegasus smirked at him, and disappeared. Before Bakura could react further, the real Pegasus stepped out and hit the control panel, sealing Bakura in the inescapable prison. "Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Pegasus said with a laugh. The Millennium Ring lit up. Bakura's hands coated in Shadow Magic and pounded his fists against the glass. To his immense surprise, his prison only cracked. Pegasus smiled again, the cruel flash of teeth sending shivers through Bakura.

"The humans think Yamis to be immortal," Pegasus commented. He danced his fingers around the button that would send the cell hurtling towards the ground. "Should we test that?" He moved his fingers to the glowing red circle, smile growing as he saw more of Bakura's desperation.

 _BANG!_

The hatch slammed open. With a jump, Pegasus whirled around. In the doorway stood Agent Wheeler, both hands locked on a giant rifle. He cocked an eyebrow at Pegasus. "Move away, bud." Grudgingly, Pegasus complied, raising his hands in surrender.

"Ya like dis?" Wheeler asked as he stepped forward. He began slowly backing Pegasus into a corner. "We started workin' on da prototype afta ya sent Toon Summon Skull. Even I dun know what it does." He placed the barrel against Pegasus's chest. "Wanna find out?"

Suddenly, Agent Wheeler let out a sharp gasp. He looked down, barely noticing the illusion of Pegasus fade from in front of him. Three inches of blade protruded from his chest.

"NO!" Two echoing voices shrieked. Pegasus yanked the blade from the agent's chest, before turning to his former pupil. Wheeler slumped against the wall, a stain of blood following his movements. His breath came in uneven pants.

Bakura wasn't faring much better. Something was happening to the Yami, something Pegasus had never seen before. Neither Ryou nor Bakura was standing in the cell, at least, not fully. It seemed as though the two had joined, forming one corporal entity on this plane. Chocolate eyes were now flecked with crimson. His hair was wilder, but not longer the full fledged storm Bakura's formed. Tears leaked from his eyes as his hands balled in rage. He shook with barely controlled emotion.

"We'll kill you!" The two screamed, "We hate you!" Pegasus ignored the jibe, and walked back up to the control panel. He paused, and looked up at the Hikari and Yami. They still glared, but the eyes were softened with hope. "Please, Teacher," the voices asked (though Pegasus had a feeling this plan was spurred on by Ryou alone), "Let us heal him." Their eyes met. RyouandBakura prayed that he would stop this, that the hours, days, years they spent together would not prove worthless. "Please."

There was a silence.

Pegasus slammed his hand down on the button and RyouandBakura were gone. The man chuckled as he watched the container shrink from view. He turned to leave.

"You're gonna lose."

The voice was weak. It no longer held any of the steady calm and confidence that it once possessed. But still, it echoed through Pegasus like the word of God. He flicked his head in the direction of the dying man.

"Am I?" Wheeler gave a pathetic nod.

"It's in your nature." Pegasus cackled at this, trying to shake the icy feeling the words gave him.

"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky... Where is my disadvantage?" The blonde thought for a moment, wheezing breaths becoming the only noise in the room.

"You lack conviction." Confused, Pegasus squinted at him.

"I don't think I-" The sound of an explosion ripped through the room. With a white hot flash, Pegasus was blasted from the chamber. Wheeler chuckled as a stream of blood ran down his chin.

"So that's what it does."

In what could have been minutes or hours (Wheeler really wasn't sure. Everything was starting to get blurry, and that included time.), another figure entered the room. Joey recognized the click of high heels, even though he could barely make out Mai's face.

"Sorry, boss. Dey got rabbited." Mai took his hand, and brushed the sweat soaked bangs out of his face.

"Hon, you just stay awake. Eyes on me, Joey!" Her voice was the same as always, stern, commanding, as though giving her agent the order to stay alive would somehow make it possible. He gave a faint laugh, causing blood to speckle Mai's chin.

"No, I'm clocked outta here." His eyes were starting to glaze, the blazing amber becoming dull. Mai squeezed his hand, hard. She dug her nails into his palm, as though she could somehow manage to hold him here.

"Not. An. Option!" She growled. Wheeler laughed again, but it was fainter this time, barely able to be heard.

"It's okay boss." His head drooped, body sliding in on itself, as if concaving. "This was neva' goin' ta work…" His voice grew quieter as his breaths increased in volume. Each gasp racked through him as though it would be his last. "If dey didn' have somethin'… to…"

His head dropped to the side.

Unseeing eyes locked on the floor.

Mai heard the door open behind her. She knew it had to be the medic team she managed to call before dashing down here. After giving her friend's hand on last squeeze and placing a kiss on his forehead, she stood and moved out of the way, letting the doctors through. She raised her wrist to her mouth, and turned on the comm unit.

"Agent Wheeler is down."

Agent Taylor would never forget that moment. He was sitting on the bridge, rolling his eyes as the man in the white coat insisted on bandaging the cut on his forehead, when Mai's voice came over the comm.

" _Agent Wheeler is down_." Taylor froze. _That isn't possible._ He stood, pushing the medic away with a distracted hand. He reached for the desktop, and began searching through controls, trying to find a way to contact _anyone_ on this damn ship.

"Paramedics are on their way." There was a pause that made the agent feel sick.

" _They're already here._ "

Yami and Kaiba were exhausted. Turning on a giant propeller while fighting off trained assassins was enough to ruin anyone's day. Kaiba's armor was littered with scuffs and scratches. The CEO was afraid he wouldn't be able to get a few pieces off with the massive dents that now covered it. Yami's Duel Disk had scene better days as well. It too was scratched, and covered in the blood of the very people they had once worked along. Neither of them spoke, until the voice came over their comms.

" _Agent Wheeler is down._ " Both of them stopped.

"What?" Yami shouted. Kaiba held up a hand to silence him. He kept his hand to his ear, focusing heavily on every word spoken.

" _Paramedics are on their way_." Agent Taylor spoke next. Mai paused.

" _They're already here._ " Yami was tempted to sigh in relief. That had to mean there was still hope. Right? There was another pause, longer and more uncomfortable that before.

" _They called it_." Yami felt like someone punched him in the stomach. All air seemed to leave him as he sunk to his knees. He could here Yuugi sobbing from his soul room, and felt some of those same tears line his cheeks. Kaiba didn't move a muscle, not for a very long time. He only stood completely still as the blood drained from his face and formed a pit in his stomach.

For the first time since the two had met, they agreed on something.

* * *

RyouandBakura stormed over to Pegasus's stunned form. The pale boy, who Pegasus has once thought to be so weak, lifted him up by his collar. The anger radiating from his hands and face made the older man lean away.

"His name was Joey."


	3. Soon

"...Big Brother? Do you want me to..." His brother was hesitant. Kaiba nearly laughed. He was falling through the Shadow Realm with a failing suit surrounded by Duel Monsters and Mokuba was worried about sparing his feelings? His brother was too nice for his own good.

"It's okay, Mokuba. Say what you need to." His own voice sounded foreign. It was soft, caring even. So unlike the business ready tone he was so accustomed to. He wasn't sure even if he was the one speaking. From the little screen in the corner, he could tell that Mokuba was surprised too. Thankfully, his words seemed to do the trick.

"Do you want me to phone Agent Wheeler? I know you two were close..." Kaiba froze. He'd forgotten that Mokuba wouldn't have known. After getting sucked under the propellor, his comm link to his brother had been one of the many, many systems to go offline. He wouldn't have heard the news that followed. And, by the time he he had gotten his equipment back together, he had totally forgotten.

Well, that exactly wasn't true. In fact, it had been the exact opposite. He had thought of nothing but the agent's death since seeing Joey's mutilated corpse in the medical wing. The entire time he had been fighting, the image of the blood-caked pale mouth that would never again sass him, never again break into a goofy grin, never again meet his lips in a kiss had always been there. But the thought of telling Mokuba had completely slipped his mind.

Mokuba left off there, perhaps noticing his brother's sudden stiffness, but Kaiba knew exactly what he meant. He nearly laughed. Mokuba was a lot more observant than he let on. Then again... He had never been very good at keeping secrets from his little brother.

* * *

They had done it. Kaibaland was officially fully operational. "Great job, big brother!" Mokuba shouted into his headset. Kaiba winced. Sometimes, it seemed the kid forgot that he had a direct link to Kaiba's ear, and most definitely didn't need to shout to be heard. Even so, it was nice to hear Mokuba excited. After the close scrapes they'd recently gotten into, his brother deserved a break. They both did.

"All the systems seem to be coming online," the brunette commented. The interface in his helmet was rapidly relaying new information, telling him of fluctuating power levels and possible program bugs.

"Yeah! It's lighting up like Christmas, only with more… You!" Kaiba bit back a snicker at that comment.

"Heh, sure thing, Mokuba. I should be back at KaibaCorp in five minutes." As he arched upwards, his backup boosters engaged, propelling him forward as he weaved between buildings. The new theme park was quickly far behind him. "Make that three." He saw Mokuba nod in the corner of his screen.

"Gotcha. By the way, Joey's here." Kaiba snorted.

"Hurry and lock the doors."

"'Ey!" A deeper voice came over the call, and Agent Wheeler shoved into view of the camera. Kaiba couldn't hold back his smirk as the blonde glared at him. It was so easy to push his buttons. "Watch it, Rich Boy. Now hurry up and get ya ass back 'ere. I got somethin' I need ta ask ya." The CEO rolled his eyes.

"I don't answer to you, Agent."

"And ya'd rather have Director Valentine show up at ya doorstep?"

The brunette stayed silent.

"Dat's what I thought." Kaiba growled as he landed on the balcony, annoyed at already being stumped. Not that he wouldn't have time to get back at him later. This was only one of many verbal battles the two had engaged in; the war was still anyone's to win.

"Big brother!" Mokuba's voice echoed as he heard it through both the intercom and his own ears. His brother was already running outside to greet him. The brunette gave a small smile as he gave his suit a command.

"Deactivate." With a hiss, the gleaming metal encasing his body began to separate, then fold in on itself. First the helmet, a draconic maw with glowing blue eyes, lifted off his face, and backwards like a hood. It separated into panels that slid against his shoulders. The arms and legs detached next, each segment seamlessly slipping into his core. Even the massive silver wings (which were more for aesthetics than actual functional) had their place, each chrome feather finding its niche. Soon, he was able to remove the suit from his chest entirely, folding into a box the size of a briefcase. Only the arc reactor in his chest was left, the one reminder that Seto Kaiba was indeed the hero, Blue Eyes.

The second he set the suit down, Mokuba was on top of him. He leapt onto Seto and clamped around his torso with such force that the wind was knocked from his chest. His "brotherly" hug nearly floored the CEO.

"Careful, Mokuba," he warned with a gasp, ignoring Agent Wheeler's amused snickers.

"Oh!" The boy quickly let go and scrambled to the floor. "Sorry Seto!" At least he had the decency to look sheepish. "I didn't mean to-" Joey walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hate ta interrupt da lovefest, but I really need ta talk ta Kaiba. Alone." Mokuba bit his lip, but nodded. He ran back inside, most likely headed to his room. Joey looked back to Kaiba, smirking.

"How long before he hacks da security system?" Kaiba gave a rare laugh.

"At that speed? I'd say one minute, seventeen seconds."

"Plenty of time den," Joey replied. He grabbed the lapels of the business man's jacket (even under his suit, Kaiba liked to look official) and pulled him into a kiss. Kaiba easily returned it, the feeling of the agent leaning against him far from out of the ordinary.

"Were you really so eager to see me, Mutt?" Kaiba murmured, hands locking around Joey's waist. He knew he was going to anger the agent with the "loving" nickname, but didn't expect Joey to huff and push him away. Kaiba internally scowled. He hadn't really wanted the other man to let him go.

"Really, Kaiba? Ya just had ta ruin da moment. But, unfortunately, I am here on business." He ran a hand through his hair and began straightening his own dress shirt, ridding it of any "post-makeout wrinkles." "Whaddya know about da Avengers Initiative?"

* * *

He remembered the following conversation clearly. He'd already known about the Avengers Initiative, having hacked S.H.I.E.L.D's systems many times before. He was, however, surprised to be hearing about it officially.

 _I thought I didn't qualify. 'Volatile, self-obsessed, doesn't play well with others.' A general heartless bastard._

Joey had laughed at him then.

 _It helps when ya have a super-star agent on ya side. Besides, ya are all dose tings. Well, not heartless._ He had touched the glowing circle, tracing the ring embedded in Kaiba's chest. _Guess dis proves dat, huh._

Mokuba was the only other person to say something like that to him.

And now, once again, here was his little brother, willing to step aside for his happiness. God, he didn't deserve him... For all either of them knew, this would be the last conversation Kaiba would ever have, and Mokuba was offering to give it to Joey. He wondered, if talking to Joey had been possible, whom he would have chosen. He couldn't imagine the pain of having to pick. But for now, a different pain welled in him, pricking the backs of his eyes. If he wasn't Seto Kaiba, he would have said he was getting emotional.

"No thanks, Mokie," he replied, the long forgotten pet name easily sliding off his tongue. "We can talk." His voice was calm. Too calm. Like this was a situation he was okay with, like this was something that he had accepted. And in a way, it was.

"Besides, I have an inkling that I will be seeing Agent Wheeler very soon."


End file.
